Regional news
All Northeast
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Maine
Vermont
Connecticut
New York

SEARCH:
Boston.com
Keyword
Yellow Pages
Web

By Reuters, 04/21/99

MORE WORLD REACTION Serb media links U.S. shooting to NATO strikes Blair gives sympathy after U.S. school shooting U.S. school shooting gets top billing on Iran TV; blames act on violence in American movies

EDINBURGH, Scotland - The small Scottish town of Dunblane, still scarred by the horror of a fatal school shooting three years ago, Wednesday offered help and advice to the parents of children killed in Littleton, Colo.

The mayor of Stirling, the area around Dunblane, sent a letter to the mayor of Littleton, where parents were mourning their dead children, just as in 1996 Dunblane mourned the 16 children killed by a loner who burst into their school.

At least 13 people, mostly students, were killed when two teen-age gunmen went on a bloody rampage, spraying gunfire and scattering homemade bombs around the high school in Littleton, outside Denver, Tuesday before shooting themselves to death.

Dunblane lived through the same horror on March 13, 1996, when a gunman burst into a primary school in Dunblane and shot dead 16 children and their teacher before killing himself.

''We extend our deepest sympathy to the people of Littleton and particularly to those who have lost loved ones,'' wrote John Paterson.

''I was saddened, shocked and appalled at the news. As the people of Dunblane know only too well, this is going to be the worst of times for everyone in Littleton.''

He said he wanted to ''offer what help and advice we can in the light of the lessons we have learned.''

For Charlie Clydesdale, the Littleton shooting was a graphic reminder of the day his five-year old daughter Victoria was shot dead in Dunblane.

''It was just like reliving the moment again, the frantic parents running around for news. The wounds never went away but this just brought it all flooding back,'' he told Sky television.